The airline’s United Aviation Fuels Corp. unit, which
purchases jet fuel for United and its regional carriers, used an
office in Sycamore, Illinois, that has no true sales activity,
the agency said in the complaint filed yesterday in state court
in Chicago. The office has one staff member, who doesn’t work
daily and doesn’t have a computer, according to the complaint.

“The only reason that United Fuels has an office in
Sycamore is to attempt to create a sham tax situs for fuel sales
in a lower taxing jurisdiction,” the authority said. “The
sales of jet fuel in this complaint are occurring in Chicago,
not Sycamore.”

By posting transactions in Sycamore, United Fuels pays an
8 percent sales tax rate, instead of the 9.5 percent rate for
Chicago-based sales, the transportation agency said in the
complaint. United Airlines and its unit have been engaging in
such sales since 2001, diverting tax money owed to the agency
and other municipalities, according to the lawsuit.

The RTA asked for a court order barring the practice, as
well as recovery for unpaid taxes.

The lawsuit is “without merit,” said Jennifer Dohm, a
spokeswoman for Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc.,
United Airlines’ parent company.

“The operation of our fuel subsidiary in Sycamore has been
examined by tax authorities in the past and has been determined
to comply with all applicable laws,” Dohm said in an e-mail.
She said the company will fight the claims.